NANJING — Rapper J. Cole's stint playing professional basketball with the Nanjing Monkey Kings in the Chinese Basketball Association ended after just one game due to delays in the visa process. Cole had signed a deal with the Nanjing club earlier in April and was scheduled to play at least three games.

Cole, whose legal name is Jermaine Cole, wrote in a blog post that he had to travel to Hong Kong to wait for a visa before he could play in mainland China. "The work visa process took way longer than expected, so I was only able to play in one before heading back," he wrote.

Cole described his lone appearance in a blog post: "I got to play 8 minutes in one of the top leagues in the world, got a few good looks but wasn't able to hit one." He added: "A couple more games and maybe those shots would have started to fall!"

"I want to say thank you to the Nanjing club and to the CBA for allowing me to have that incredible experience," Cole wrote. He also said he told the team he would be open to a longer run the following year. "I told the team that if I could stay in shape I would be down to play for a longer amount of games next year," he wrote.

The appearance with the Monkey Kings marked the third time Cole had played in a professional basketball league. He previously played with the Rwanda Patriots in the Basketball Africa League in 2021 and with the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the Canadian Elite Basketball League in 2022. Cole played high school basketball in North Carolina before pursuing his music career.